Veneer-cutter.



No. 817,784. PATENTED A PR17, 1906.

L. KOSS.

VENEER GUTTER.

APPLIGATION FILED DB0. 14, 1904 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 17, 1906.

Application filed December 14, 1904. Serial No. 236,788.

T all w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS Koss, a citizen of the United States, residingat Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Veneer-Cutters, of whichthe following is a specification.

In the ordinary veneer-sawing machine it has heretofore been customaryfor the operator to manually produce the forward or feeding set of theHitch-head.

The object of; my present invention is to provide means forautomatically accurately producing this forward or feeding set of theHitch-head, said means being of such character that a wide range ofthicknesses of veneers may be produced.

A further object of my invention is to provide a simple yet eilicientstructure for offsetting the Hitch-head for the return stroke of thecarriage.

The accompanying invention.

Figure 1 is a plan of an apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2, afront elevation Fig. 3, a plan of the offsetting mechanism, on anenlarged scale; Fig. 4, a rear elevation of one end of the machine Fig.5, an enlarged rear elevation of parts shown in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 asection on line 6 6 of Fig 5.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the usual track or supporting-bed uponwhich the reciprocating flitch-head carriage is mounted in the usualway, said carriage being driven backward and forward by means of acable, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) which passes around a drumcarried by the reversible drive-shaft 12, driven in any desired manner.Mounted on carriage 11 so as to move transversely thereon on suitableways is a flitch-head 13, which is provided on its face with any desiredHitch-holding means in order that the flitch may be brought intoposition to be operated upon by the usual saw 14. The construction thusfar described is of common and ordinary form.

Threaded through suitable boxes 13 of the Hitch-head 13 are screw-rods15, which rods are arranged one at each end of the flitchhead 13. Eachof the rods 15 is journaled in a boxing 16, which is slidably mounted insuitable guides 17, carried by the carriage 11, the arrangement beingsuch that the boxing 16 may have a limited movement transversely of thecarriage 11 toward and from the plane of the saw, said boxing carryingwith it the drawings illustrate my l threaded rod 15, which is journaledtherein. Pivoted to each box 16 is one end of a link 1S, the oppositeend of which is journaled-upon an' eccentric wrist-pin 19, carried by avertical shaft 20, journaled in a bearing 21, carried by the carriage11. Each shaft 20 has attached to its lower end a segmental gear 22 anda cam-finger 23. Slidably mounted in suitable ways 2-1 on carriage 11 soas to slide in a line parallel with the line of movement of saidcarriage is a rack-bar 25, the opposite ends of which are provided withsuitable teeth, which mesh with the segmental gears 22, the arrangementbeing such that when the carriage 11 reaches the farther end of itstravel to the left in Fig. 1 the cam-finger 23 of the adjacent shaft 20willcome into contact' with .a pin or roller 26, so as to turn segment22 clockwise, Fig. 3, thus shifting rack-bar 25 and causing a similarclockwise movement of the segment 22 at the opposite end of thecarriage. The simultaneous movement of the two segments 22 causes asimultaneous turning of the shafts 20 and a consequent simultaneousmovement of the wrist-pins 19, so as to simultaneously slide the blocks16, and thus retract the threaded rods 15, and consequently theconnected flitch-head 13 to the position indicated in dotted lines inFig. 6. As a 4consequence when the carriage 11 is returned to theopposite or right-hand end of the bed, the i'litch has been set backsufliciently to clear the saw 14 and also to permit the feeding set ofthe head, which takes place during the return movement of the carriage.

vWhen the carriage reaches the right-hand end of the bed, Fig. 1, theadjacent cam-finger 23, (the right-hand cam-finger, Fig. 3,) which hasbeen moved by the movement previously described so as to occupy aposition similar to that occupied by the left-hand cam-finger 23 in Fig.3, comes into engagement with a pin or roller 27, thus causing amovement of the shafts 20 in a counterclockwise direction, so as to movethe Hitchhead 13 toward the plane of the saw an amount equal to theamount which it has been previously retracted.

In present constructions hand-operated means is provided by which theoperator may rotate the screw-rods 15, so as to advance the Hitch-headtoward the plane of the saw the desired amount to produce a desiredthickness of veneer, and it has been necessary to IOO IIO

accomplish this movement after the carriage has been returned to itsfirst position and while the carriage remains stationary, so that therewas necessarily a considerable loss of time.

In my present construction. l have provided means for automaticallysetting the flitchcarriage forward an amount to produce the next cut ofveneer while the carriage is returning to initial position, thismovement being wholly independent of the setback construction alreadydescribed. For this purpose I attach to each shaft l5 a sprocketwheel30, and these sprocket-wheels are connected by a chain 3l. Journaledaipon one of the shafts 15 is a pawl-arm 32, carrying pawls 32, adaptedto engage a ratchet-wheel 33, secured to the said screw-rod 15. Thepawl-arm 32 is provided with a counterbalance 32 invorder that it maynormally occupy the position shown in Fig. 5. A spring may besubstituted for the counterbalance if quicker return is desired. As thecarriage l l moves on its return stroke in the direction indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 5 the pawl-arm 32 is brought into successiveengagement with one or more rollers or pins 35, which will thus causesuccessive swingings of the pawlarm 32 to the position indicated indotted lines in Fig. 5, thus simultaneously turning the screw-rods 15and advancing the flitch-` head 13 a predetermined amount, so that whenthe setback mechanism is returned at the end of the return stroke of thecarriage the flitch-head will occupy a position nearer the plane of thesaw an amount equal to the desired veneer plus the saw-kerf. ln order toincrease the amount of this forward movement, any desired number ofpinsor rollers 35 may be provided, as shown in Figs. l and 4, so as tocause successive reciprocations of the pawl-lever 32.

Thus far the construction described will be such as to permit onlyadjustment of forward setting in multiples of the amount produced by asingle swing of the pawl-lever 32, and in order to increase the range ofthis mechanism I journal upon the rod l5 an arm 36, which carries asemi-annular shield 37, the forward end of which may be projected intothe path of movement of the pawls 32, so as to shield the ratchet-wheel33 during a portion of the movement of the pawls. The shield 37 may beoperated by means of a link 38, arm 39, shaft 40, and operating-arm 4l,which lastmentioned arm operates in conjunction with a notched segment42, by means of which the shielding action of the shield 37 may beaccurately determined. On the forward movement of the carriage 1l thepawl-arm 32 will ride over the rollers 35 and the pawls 32 will rideback over the shield 37 without producing any effect on theratchet-wheel, a bufferarm 31 engaging a stop-arm S to prevent bouncingof the pawl-lever. l

The shield 37 may be readily adjusted during operation of the Imachine,so that if the veneer is found to be running either thick or thin theproper gage can be produced without stopping.

The rods 15 may be turned. by hand by means of a hand-crank. (Shown indotted lines in Fig. 6.)

I claim as my invention- 1. In a veneer-machine, the combination, withthe cutter, the flitchcarriage, and means for moving one with relationto the other, of a flitch-head carried by the carriage and transverselymovable thereon toward and from the plane of the cutter, a pair ofscrew-rods engaging said flitch-head, journal-blocks for said screw-rodsmounted in suitable ways on the carriage and movable toward and from theplane of the cutter, a pair of shafts journaled on the carriagesubstantially at right angles to the screws and each provided with aneccentric portion, a direct connection between each of said eccentricportions and one of the journal-blocks, a pair of links between saideccentric portions and the journal-blocks, a segmental gear carried byeach of said shafts, a rack-bar mounted on the carriage and connectingthe two segmental gears, operating means carried by each. of saidshafts, and means dependent upon the carriage and cutter for alternatelyengaging said operating means, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a veneer-machine, the combination, with a cutter, and afiitch-head mounted on said carriage and movable toward and from theplane of the cutter, a pair of screw-rods journaled on the carriage andengaging the flitch-head, intermediate connections between thescrew-rods for simultaneous movement thereof, a ratchet-wheel carried byone of said screw-rods, a pawl-arm carried by the carriage and providedwith pawls adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, means carried by theframe for engaging said pawl-arm, a shield shielding a portion of saidratchet, and means for readily and accurately adjustin said shield withrelation to the path of trave of the pawls during operation.

3. In a veneer-machine, the combination, with a cutter and a'Hitch-carriage, of means for moving one with relation to the other in aplane parallel therewith, setback means for moving one transversely tothe other, feeding means for moving one transversely with relation tothe other in opposition to the setback means, means dependent upon therelative movement between the cutter and flitchcarriage in the cuttingplane for automatically operating the setback means, means dependentupon the relative movement berelative movement between the IOO IOS

IIO

tween the cutter and 'Hitch-carriage in the for varying the action ofthe operating means on the feeding means, and means for accuratelygaging the position of said varying means at all times.

4. In a veneer-sawing machine, the combination, with a saw and aHitch-carriage7 of setback means for moving one transversely withrelation to the other for the return stroke of the carriage, feedingmeans for moving one with relation to the other in opposition to thesetback means during the return stroke ofthe carriage, means dependentupon the movement of the litch-carriage for automatically operating thesetback means, means dependent upon the movement of the Hitch-carriagefor automatically operating 15 the position of said varying means at alVzo times.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indiana olis,Indiana, this 6th day of December, A. 1904.

LOUIS KOSS.

Witnesses ARTHUR M.- Hoon, JAMES A. WALSH.

